Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum surprises his sister, Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, before Saturday's playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Trevor had just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the U.S. Navy. less

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum surprises his sister, Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, before Saturday's playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on ... more

Photo: Sacred Heart Athletics / Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum embraces his sister, Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Trevor surprises his sister, having just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the U.S. Navy. less

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum embraces his sister, Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on ... more

Sacred Heart University senior Teagan Ketchum is overcome with emotion after being surprised by her brother, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum, before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2017. Trevor Ketchum had just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the U.S. Navy. less

Sacred Heart University senior Teagan Ketchum is overcome with emotion after being surprised by her brother, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum, before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

Image 4 of 7

Sacred Heart University senior Teagan Ketchum is overcome with emotion after being surprised by her brother, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2017. Trevor Ketchum had just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the U.S. Navy. less

Sacred Heart University senior Teagan Ketchum is overcome with emotion after being surprised by her brother, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum before Saturday’s playoff game against St. Anslem at ... more

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum drops the ceremonial first puck between his sister Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, and St. Anslem’s Victoria Shea before Saturday’s playoff game at The Rinks at Shelton in Shelton, Conn. on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Trevor Kethcum surprised Teagan having just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the U.S. Navy. less

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum drops the ceremonial first puck between his sister Teagan, a Sacred Heart University senior, and St. Anslem’s Victoria Shea before Saturday’s playoff game at The ... more

SHELTON — Teagan Ketchum lined up at the blue line for the national anthem Saturday at The Rinks at Shelton, and the senior defenseman never noticed the figure hidden in the penalty box.

Then they called her to center ice for the ceremonial faceoff before Sacred Heart women’s hockey’s NEHC Open playoff game against St. Anselm. Only then did she see who emerged from the box. She dropped her gloves and stick, put her hands over her mouth and hunched over.

Her brother, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Trevor Ketchum, had just come home from deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom — Teagan didn’t know he’d be there, let alone dropping the puck. They embraced for about 15 seconds, then Teagan went back in for another.

“I didn’t want to let go,” Teagan Ketchum said, watching it again on video after the game.

“There were a lot of emotions,” Teagan Ketchum said. “I haven’t seen him in a while. Hockey has always been our common bond. I started playing hockey because of him. He’s always been that figure for me, who I aspire to be.”

Trevor Ketchum, who played at Daniel Webster, dropped the puck between his sister and St. Anselm co-captain Victoria Shea, who gave Teagan a pat on the left shoulder.

Teagan, a senior from Averill Park, N.Y., out of Albany Academy, then had to go play a game. Coach Tom O’Malley gave her a couple of shifts to catch her breath.

“It was unbelievable. I was quite emotional myself,” O’Malley said. “It was a great thing to see. You could see how much it hit Teagan.

“She’s a great kid. She works hard every day and has a smile on her face all the time.”

The puck-drop came together at the last minute. Trevor needed approval to come home (he could tell us where he’s been, but he’d ... have to fill out too much paperwork) for a few days rather than reporting straight back to his home base in Honolulu.

He only arrived in town Friday night around midnight. He has to leave Tuesday morning for Hawaii.

“Just being away, I haven’t seen her in over a year, two Christmases ago, 14 months,” said Trevor, who’d been deployed for nine months. “Stationed in Hawaii, I can’t afford to come back a lot. I missed Christmas.”

He missed the Pioneers’ military appreciation day a few weeks ago, too. Colleen Ketchum said her daughter had hoped Trevor could make it for that celebration.

Teagan Ketchum said she didn’t expect to see him until her graduation. She said she didn’t know what was going on in the pregame ceremony and at first didn’t hear her name called to take the faceoff.

The Pioneers honored St. Anselm goalie Logan Knip, who is in the Army Reserves, before bringing the Ketchums together.

“It was really just so much joy at finally being able to hug him. We have a strangely close bond for siblings,” said Teagan Ketchum, who’s five years younger than her brother. “It’s been hard not being able to see him or talk so much.”

St. Anselm won 5-1 in the semifinals of the New England Hockey Conference Open. The Hawks face Holy Cross on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Shelton for the title. Sacred Heart meets Franklin Pierce at 1 for third place.